The crew heard a bang and stopped the engine. After only five days on the water, Skibladner crashed and had to be towed ashore. Today it turns out that the damage is great. – I have never seen such major damage to the boat before, says chief engineer Torfinn Gulseth. MAJOR DAMAGE: Chief engineer at Skibladner, Torfinn Gulseth, says he has never seen such major damage to the boat before. Photo: Knut Røsrud / news The entire impeller on one side of the boat is damaged and must be rebuilt, he says. Gulseth is afraid the repair may take a month. The chief engineer is really upset. – It’s awful when we’ve been through two years of pandemic and a month of little water, and we were so happy when we saw that everything worked mechanically. But unfortunately we got this then, on top of everything else. It is only five days since Skibladner was pulled out of his house in Gjøvik until the start of the season. Photo: The rescue company. Desperate for another bad season It is uncertain how long it will take to get the impeller repaired. – The challenge is of course that there are no spare parts to buy for Skibladner. Everything must be made, and it takes time, says chairman Bjørn Blichfeldt of Oplandske Dampskibsselskap. DESPAIR: Chairman of the board Bjørn Blichfeldt in Oplandske Dampskibsselskap (on the phone) and captain of Skibladner, Hans Knudsen has a tough day. Photo: Knut Røsrud / news He is desperate that this is happening now. They lost large sums in the two pandemic years, when they could only have 50 percent occupancy and all charter trips had to be canceled. In addition, they have lost 1.5 million because the start of the season this year had to be postponed due to little water in Lake Mjøsa. – And then we should start in full now, then this happens. It’s a tough day, says Blichfeldt. Hundreds of passengers are calling Now work is underway to notify the passengers who are to be with Skibladner in the next few days. By Tuesday alone, which was to be the first day of regular scheduled traffic, 300 tickets had been sold. – They are very disappointed of course, but also have warm thoughts for us and take it quite well. They either get their money back or a new trip later, says marketing manager Eva Stø. TO THE QUAY: Skibladner is now the rope to the quay in Gjøvik. Photo: Ola Almås Jullumstrø / news In the first instance, those who have tickets will be notified until Wednesday next week. But everyone thinks it will take longer. – It’s a whimsical, old lady we’re dealing with. But it will work out. It’s just a question of how long it takes, says Bjørn Blichfeldt. He perhaps hopes that those who will make the parts for the impeller can work shifts, that is, both day and night, so that it will go as quickly as possible. The captain: – Shaken violently Captain Hans Knudsen says that the accident happened 15 minutes after they left Gjøvik and were on their way to Moelv to pick up passengers. – Then I stood and steered and suddenly there were colossal carvings in the boat and we realized that we just had to stop as fast as we could. It was a while before a steam engine stopped so the paddle wheel went a few laps, and it did not look good in the paddle box afterwards, the captain says. – So trying to drive to the quay for your own machine was just to forget, he says. He too is desperate that this is happening now, when they should finally start full summer traffic again. – It’s simply nitrist. Photo: Ola Almås Jullumstrø / news – Must manage this Every day Skibladner can not sail, there will be financial losses. But Bjørn Blichfeldt says they must manage this as well. – We have been out in tough times before. We currently have a healthy economy, he says. They expect to know more about the extent of the damage and how long the repairs will take after an operating meeting on Friday morning.
ttn-69
Major damage to Skibladner – the impeller must be rebuilt – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
